


Public Enemy

by kethni



Series: Crossing Over [3]
Category: Veep (TV)
Genre: F/M, Mistaken Identity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:22:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25512763
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kethni/pseuds/kethni
Summary: Sue opened the door. ‘I’ve never known a day here where everything went according to plan.’
Relationships: Kent Davison/Selina Meyer
Series: Crossing Over [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1848229
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	Public Enemy

There were plenty of staffers, usually the young and inexperienced, who viewed having a public profile as the brass ring for which they were striving. There were slightly fewer staffers, generally a little older and more prominent, who viewed it as a necessary but undesirable part of the job. Then there was Kent. His complete and total disdain for any kind of publicity for himself was beyond even Ben’s notable loathing.

Selina found it utterly baffling. Sure, publicity was a two-edged sword, and God knew that she’d had enough bad experiences, but even a bad interview was better than no interview. The thought of people not knowing who she was, of her views not being important, was chilling. That anyone would actually choose to be as obscure as some random member of the public when they could, should, have a public profile, was completely incomprehensible.

She lay back against the pillows and turned the page of the newspaper. She used to be provided purely with selected articles. Gary and Amy _hated_ that she read the whole paper now. Gary fussed obsessively like a mother hen. The way he acted you’d think that she was as fragile as a piece china. Amy claimed that Selina didn’t have the time to get “all wound up” about things that weren’t important. What she _meant_ was that she didn’t want to deal with Selina throwing fits over opinions that she didn’t like.

Kent the strategist, had no official opinion on the matter. Kent the man who warmed her bed, had been pushing her to engage more with “the common man.” It would be good for her, he claimed. Not in a political way but in her “personal development.” Whatever the fuck _that_ meant. One late night, when they had both drunk far too much, he had said some very _irritating_ things about how being raised rich and isolated from people of other social classes had actually damaged her psychological and development of empathy.

Pah. Like empathy was such a great thing. What the hell use was empathy to a politician?

She looked up as Kent came out of the shower, drying his hair with a towel. ‘What the hell time do you call this?’

He looked at her curiously. ‘I have no appointments for which I am late.’

‘You’re the president’s senior strategist,’ she said. ‘What’re you doing fucking around with long leisurely showers when you could be working?’

He put his hand on his hip. ‘You are aware that I am not obliged to work 24/7?’

‘I know that,’ she snapped. ‘You insist on sleeping and eating and using the bathroom. Lazy asshole.’

He rolled his eyes and continued dressing.

‘I don’t want you thinking that you can get away with slacking off just because I’ve taken pity on you,’ she said.

It was deliberately confrontational. She saw him narrow his eyes a fraction and consider responding before neatly hanging up the damp towel.

‘I’m talking to you,’ she said, throwing a pillow at him.

Kent threw the pillow back with, Selina considered, more force than was needed. ‘I beg your pardon, Ma’am. If your _pity_ has reached its natural limit, then I will redirect my energies going forward.’

Selina scowled. ‘Smart ass.’

‘Shall I remove my clothes from my drawer?’

‘That’s not fucking funny,’ she said. She meant it to be sharp, aggressive almost, but even she could hear the streak of panic.

Kent sighed. ‘Nor are your repeated suggestions that you are merely tolerating my presence until you find someone better.’

She looked away and adjusted the bedclothes. ‘You need to get a sense of damn humour.’

‘Selina, you can’t say things like that to me and then whine when I do the same.’

‘It’s funny when I do it,’ she muttered.

He sighed. ‘No, it’s not. I’m tired of hints and supposed humour. Please find another way to express your discomfort with our relationship.’

She pulled her knees up to her chest and watched him head to the door. ‘Sorry,’ she mumbled.

Kent walked over to the bed. He leaned over and kissed her cheek. ‘I’ll see you shortly.’

‘Maybe I’d be more comfortable if people knew about us, you ever think about that?’

‘No,’ he said, walking to the door. ‘But I think if you had a great deal of therapy you might.’

Selina rolled her eyes. Medication was bad enough. She took that because she _had_ to take it in order to get out of the damn bed. She wasn’t proud of it. She knew that Kent would say it was ridiculous to consider it a sign of weakness and make some comment about nobody thinking glasses or a hearing aid were signs of weakness. Shows what he knew. She wouldn’t be caught dead with either. The fact that Kent had never tried to show her any data on it just made her surer that she was right. Kent had data for _everything_. He probably had a graph somewhere about the importance of sucking his dick.

There was a tap on the door. ‘Good morning!’

She rolled her eyes. ‘I need a coffee!’

‘Right away,’ Gary promise.

Jesus, would it have been so hard for him to just bring one with him in case she wanted one? Why didn’t anyone show any damn initiative anymore?

***

‘I don’t want to hear about that! If I want to hear about that then I’ll tell you,’ she complained as she headed to her office.

‘But Ma’am, it looks as though this kind of religious extremism is going to only because more of a problem,’ Amy protested.

Selina put her hand on her hip. ‘Ames, come on. Do you know what will happen if we ever admit that white people can be terrorists? That Christian extremism is a thing?’

‘We might actually spend money where it might be useful,’ Ben muttered.

‘We’ll be crucified in the press,’ Kent said.

Selina sniggered. ‘Crucified. I like it. Look, I’ll condemn the fuckers attacking abortion clinics but there’s a huge fucking difference between saying “quit shooting abortion staff,” and actually calling them terrorists or extremists or whatever.’

‘Don’t want to hurt the feelings of terrorists,’ Dan remarked.

She shot him a warning glare. ‘Right-wing, neo-Nazi, and Christian terrorism are increasing issues. We need to spend some money towards monitoring them.’

‘Christians can’t be terrorists,’ Gary said.

‘The Gunpowder Plot would suggest otherwise,’ Kent remarked.

‘And the KKK,’ Ben sneered.

Selina tended to block out much of their background conversations as they rarely raised above the level of bickering, but curiosity got the better of her.

‘Since when are the KKK religious?’ she asked.

Ben hauled up his trousers by the belt. ‘Since 1915. Anti-Catholic.’

‘Huh, that’s a new one on me,’ Selina admitted. She waved a hand at Mike, who wandered over waving a sheaf of paper. ‘This better make more sense than the last one.’

‘Oh, this is so much better,’ he promised. ‘Also, no mustard stains.’

Selina gave him a dead-eyed glare. ‘Remind me what the point of having you is if I have to take questions from the press?’

‘Accountability,’ Mike said.

‘The illusion of it,’ Ben said.

‘The press _loves_ it,’ Mike said enthusiastically.

Amy rolled her eyes. ‘If that doesn’t prove that it’s a terrible idea then nothing will.’

Selina smoothed her dress. ‘Everyone shut the fuck up. And stay nearby. I am in no mood for some ambitious asshole trying to gotcha me.’

***

Selina pointed at a preppy blonde with bright pink lipstick and a predatory look in her eyes. ‘Melinda.’

‘Given the condemnation of the attacks on abortion clinics, do you think it’s appropriate for one of your senior aides to protest abortion clinics?’

Selina blinked. _Fucking Gary_. She was amazed he actually had the balls to go to a protest of any type. She took a deep breath, right as Mike was half-pushed and half-fell onto the stage. He staggered over and Selina stepped back from the podium.

‘I’m afraid that the president’s time is extremely constrained,’ Mike said.

‘It was great being here with you guys,’ Selina said sweetly. ‘Be nice to Mike!’

Her smile disappeared as she walked out of the room. She nearly slammed the door shut as she stamped over the huddle of Ben, Kent, Amy, Dan, and Gary.

‘What the fuck did you do?’ she snarled at Gary.

He gaped at her. Gary wasn’t above lying, she knew that, but he wasn’t very good at it. He sure as shit wasn’t good enough for the expression of complete confusion and bafflement.

‘I didn’t… I don’t…’

‘Who the fuck else here has a problem with abortion?’ she demanded. ‘Ben doesn’t give a shit and Dan’s probably got a damn loyalty card!’

Gary looked around at them hopelessly.

‘Don’t look at me,’ Amy said. ‘The only thing I protest is

The door banged open behind Selina as Mike barged through.

‘Is it you?’ Selina demanded.

Mike blinked at her. ‘It’s Kent,’ he said. ‘She had pictures, see?’

Selina snatched the photograph from him and then turned to Kent, her face white with fury.

He licked his lips. ‘I believe there has been a misunderstanding.’

***

Diane was working in her home office when Kurt appeared in the doorway. He had an expression that she hadn’t seen from him very often. For want of a better word he looked _sheepish_.

‘What?’ she asked.

‘I need to go to Washington for a day or two.’

She took off her glasses. ‘How mysterious. State or D.C.?’

He scratched his temple. ‘D.C. Kent needs a favour, of sorts.’

Diane swivelled around on her chair. She crossed her legs. ‘Let me guess, this is because of the reporter misidentifying you and Kent at that anti-abortion protest?’

Kurt sighed. ‘You heard.’

She chuckled. ‘I should think that everyone has heard. It’s all over the news.’

He tucked his hands in his pockets. ‘He wants me there first thing tomorrow.’

‘Since when do you let him dictate terms to you about anything?’ she asked.

Kurt shrugged. ‘I am somewhat responsible for the situation even if I have no guilt for it.’

‘When do we leave?’ she asked.

He smiled. ‘I wasn’t sure that you’d want to come.’

Diane raised an eyebrow. ‘I always want to come.’

***

Selina straddled Kent and unbuttoned his trousers. He raised an eyebrow.

‘You’re aware that the Oval Office isn’t soundproof,’ he said.

She snorted. ‘And you know the Secret Service have heard us fuck before now.’

‘I try to pretend that I _don’t_ know,’ he admitted, tugging her skirt up her thighs.

‘Funny they never came in to investigate,’ she remarked, wriggling out of her panties. ‘I could be getting attacked or something.’

He pulled himself out of his underwear. ‘You don’t tend to sound as if you’re being attacked,’ he said mildly. ‘And, of course, they know precisely where in here we are. I imagine that most people would see that we’re both in exactly the same place on the couch and not conclude a physical assault.’

She paused, positioned to lower herself onto his cock. ‘How do they know where we are?’

‘Pressure pads on the floor.’

Selina closed her eyes as she lowered herself. ‘Thank fuck. For a horrible second I worried you were gonna say there’s security videos.’

He laughed. ‘Do you imagine I would be doing this if there were?’

She moaned as his fingers tangled in her hair. She’d told him once that she loved having her hair pulled. He didn’t do it every time. That would’ve made it stale. Boring.

‘Who knows with you,’ she grunted. ‘Still haven’t told me any kinky stuff.’

His other hand slid to her breast, cupping and caressing.

‘You’re making a faulty assumption,’ he muttered.

‘What’s that?’ She opened her eyes. His face was close. She always seemed to forget the colour of his eyes - the green core ringed with brown. They changed with the light, sometimes looking green and sometimes brown.

‘That I have some “kinky stuff” that I’m not telling you.’ He tugged slightly at her hair.

She growled quietly. ‘You’re the fucking patriarchy. You gotta have all kinds of weird sexual perviness.’

He chuckled. ‘I didn’t get the memo.’

Selina closed her eyes as she tipped back her head. Her fingers gripped his shoulders tightly.

***

Diane had flown a lot in her life. While she mostly flew business class, she had twice flown first class, neither time had been on her own dime. She’d never flown coach although hitching a ride with an Army transport felt suspiciously close to how she imagined it.

‘I think Kent could have arrange something a little less… Rustic,’ she said to Kurt as they looked for their driver. ‘It didn’t have to be Air Force One, but the president has all kinds of access to government vehicles.’

‘That would be wrong,’ Kurt said with the slightest hint of sarcasm.

‘I suppose we should be grateful that he didn’t have you parachuted out above the White House,’ she said dryly.

Kurt’s lips twitched. ‘No fly zone.’

Diane laughed. ‘Of course! You’d have been shot down and then you’d be no use to him at all.’

She had been expecting… what? A town car with a chauffer perhaps. She hadn’t given it much thought. While she’d met Kent before it hadn’t been part of any official business. She had heard far more about his professional side than she had directly seen. They hadn’t talked much. Kurt didn’t like many of his relatives and, while he didn’t actively dissuade her from talking to them, he wasn’t precisely encouraging either. She hadn’t been expecting Kent himself, casually attired in a cotton shirt and dad jeans. 

He was driving a Nissan Leaf. She heard Kurt make a noise that was partway between a groan and a sound of disgust. Given that the Meyer administration had done little or nothing to improve environmental protections it did rather savour of performative environmentalism.

‘I wasn’t aware that you were also visiting,’ Kent said, taking Diane’s luggage from her hand. ‘I hope that you don’t have any allergies.’

She blinked. ‘Uh…’

Kurt gave her a look. ‘Kent has cats.’ He said it as if it were an indicator of a _severe_ moral failing.

Diane tried not to react as Kent opened the passenger door for her. ‘I don’t believe that I’m allergic to cats.’

‘Diane prefers dogs,’ Kurt said with a touch of smugness, as if any argument on the merits of dogs and cats had been long resolved.

As Kent sat in the driving seat, he rolled his eyes. ‘Why is it that so many dog lovers seem personally insulted that cat lovers exist? We don’t care that there are people who love birds or mice, reptiles or insects.’

‘There are people who have insects as pets?’ Diane asked.

Kent took a turn. ‘The human desire to lavish love on a pet is not limited to mammals. I have known people who cared for stick insects with a devotion that would shame most parents.’

Diane tried not to smile. ‘I should probably be glad you didn’t say spiders.’

‘Given that I did not specifically mention arachnids that would’ve been a poor choice of example,’ Kent said. He glanced at her. ‘However, there are certainly people who keep spiders as pets.’

‘Ugh!’ Diane groaned. 

Kurt grunted. ‘There are people who voted for Selina Meyer.’

‘Not enough unfortunately,’ Kent said. ‘I’d appreciate it if you didn’t bring that up.’

‘Bring it up with who?’ Diane asked.

***

It had been a long day. Selina kicked off her shoes and wiggled her toes in the rug. She could go up to the residence, get the chef to make her supper and go to bed. That was the best idea. She knew that. But that was gonna be no fucking fun. She needed some fun. Or at least she needed to get laid. Po-tae-toe, po-tah-toe.

She put her shoes back on and picked up her phone. ‘Yeah, I need a car. Well, I’m the president and if I wanna make an unscheduled drive to my lover’s house for a booty call then I’m gonna fucking do it. ‘Kay?’

It was a small win, if you could call it that, but it was a win and it was hers. All fucking day her spent her day running around from place to place without pretty much no damn choice what she was doing. Oh, they all pretended that she had all this power and made all these choices, but it was bullshit. It was all meaningless, petty shit. Between the special interests, the lobbyists, the military-industrial complex, blah blah blah it was almost impossible to claw out something for herself.

She was damn well clawing something out for herself tonight, whatever the Secret Service and the driver thought about it.

***

Kent’s home was larger than Diane expected and was much homier. There was something about him that made her think about glass walls and white tiles. Instead, there were warm wooden floors and exposed brickwork. It wasn’t quite Kurt’s or her aesthetic, but it wasn’t as far away as she would have expected. The pictures of boats on the walls definitely weren’t too her taste. They looked like the art a realtor had thrown up on the walls. The cats that came wandering over to the door were definitely not something any realtor would approve. They weren’t sleek and they weren’t pretty, but they fussed around Kent as if they hadn’t seen him in weeks.

‘Are they hungry?’ Diane asked.

‘Oh no,’ he said, patting both of the cats. ‘Then they’d be yelling at me. They aren’t subtle.’

Kurt skirted around them as he followed Kent into the living room. ‘Only two?’

‘Alas I have neither the room nor the time to care for more,’ Kent said.

Diane raised an eyebrow. ‘Are you a mad cat lady?’

He smiled slightly. ‘Purely aspiring at this point. Kurt is referring to the fact that when I was growing up, we had five.’

‘Goodness,’ Diane said.

Kent moved her suitcase to his other hand. ‘I’ll put this in the guest room.’

‘Do you live on your own?’ she asked, following him upstairs. ‘Apart from the cats.’

He nodded. His hair was a touch longer than Kurt’s. That had always been something that she found quietly incongruous. It hardly met the stereotype of the gun toting Republican to walk around with hair nearly at his collar. Yet in all the time she had known him it had been consistent. Even though he at times varied his facial hair, but never barefaced, his hair was always a little above collar length and no longer.

‘It took Kurt and I quite a while to live together full-time,’ she admitted. ‘We had very different tastes and needs.’

He opened a door for her. ‘Co-habitation seems primarily important for the raising of children. Where there are no children it seems to raise stress levels and discomfort for little or no commensurate reward.’

Diane walked into the room. ‘Especially if you’re set in your ways and don’t much enjoy changing.’

Kent’s lips tugged at the corners. ‘Are you talking about yourself or Kurt?’

She chuckled. ‘Both! Although that’s not fair. He’s made bigger sacrifices than I have. I think he misses living at the ranch, although we try to stay most weekends.’ She walked over to the window and looked out into the bustling street. Not a whisper of noise could be heard through the soundproof glass.

‘I grew up on a ranch,’ Kent remarked. ‘Going away to college was _quite_ a transition.’

‘Not enough room for the five cats?’

He shrugged. ‘Barely sufficient room for the students.’

There was a muffled call from downstairs. Diane and Kent exchanged a look. She pulled open the door, just as Kurt jogged up the stairs.

‘Someone’s at your back door,’ he said.

Kent checked his watch. ‘That’s significantly earlier than I anticipated.’

Kurt sighed. ‘Married, Kent, really?’

Kent frowned. ‘No.’

‘Then why are they at the back door?’

‘Discretion,’ Kent said tartly, moving out of the room. ‘Although frankly you would be in no position to pass judgment if I _were_ sleeping with a married person.’

Diane met Kurt’s eye. ‘Ouch,’ she murmured.

Kurt sighed. ‘Despite his generally transactional politics and morality, Kent was extremely annoyed when…’

Diane pushed back her hair. ‘Had I even met him then?’

‘Yes.’

She smiled impishly. ‘Shall we go and meet this discreet woman with whom he is not having an illicit love affair?’

Kurt shrugged. ‘We could stay here. There’s a bed.’

Diane opened the bedroom door. ‘It’ll still be there in fifteen minutes.’

***

Selina was sulking. That wasn’t uncommon but he knew better these days to take it seriously. When she was seriously angry, she screamed and when she was genuinely upset then she became brittle and too correct. Sulking was the second lowest level of unhappy Selina, above completely ignoring the issue, and below a tantrum. They were relatively rare, fortunately.

‘Why do they have to stay with you?’ she muttered, leaning against the kitchen table.

‘That’s what people do when they visit relatives.’ Kent lifted the lid on the crockpot and sniffed the aroma. ‘I saw your mother’s house. A whole hotelful of relatives could have stayed.’

‘But they _didn’t_.’ Selina passed him the food thermometer.

‘Why have guest rooms if you are not going to have guests?’

Selina rolled her eyes. ‘There was a library in there, but I bet you my right tit my mom never read a damn book in there.’

Kent glanced at her. ‘You cannot convince me that guests never stayed. You have guests stay at the White House.’

She opened the cupboard and got out a stack of bowls. ‘That’s not the same! Me having world leaders, diplomats, and the like staying is not the same as these two pitching up here when they could go to a hotel.’

Kent put his hand on his hip. ‘They’re family. They’re here as a favour and –’

‘How is this a favour?’ she demanded. ‘He screwed me over! He’s a damn Republican. He probably did it on purpose.’

Kent rolled his eyes. ‘That would be wildly out of character.’

‘People contain multitudes!’ she snapped. ‘Didn’t you say that he’d cheated on his wife? Weren’t you all bent out of shape because _that_ was so out of character?’

Kent took the bowls from her. ‘All the things that I say and to which you pay scant attention and _that_ one you remember.’

She pursed her lips. ‘Cheating pisses me off. You too I know.’

He sighed. ‘Indeed.’

She leaned past him to peer into the crockpot. ‘So, what’re we having for supper?’

Kent smiled slightly. ‘Gary wouldn’t approve of you eating it.’

‘Gosh, why not?’ she asked, widening her eyes comically. ‘What’s in there?’

‘There’s halloumi cheese,’ he said, waggling his eyebrows. ‘And bacon.’

‘I can see tomatoes, right? Beans, chickpeas… eggplant?’

He put a hand on either side of her waist and lifted her easily out of the way. ‘I doubt that even Gary could protest vegetables and legumes.’

She snorted. ‘He could protest six grapes and breath of fresh air, believe me.’

‘Would you get the bread out while I ask them to come in?’ he asked, walking to the door.

‘It’s a crap meal if you gotta fill up on bread,’ she said tartly.

He raised an eyebrow. ‘It’s a meal that was meant to be for three people, not four.’

‘Oh,’ she said, without a trace of guilt or embarrassment. ‘Should’ve been better prepared, huh?’

He pointed at the breadbin. ‘Make yourself useful.’

‘What do you think I’ve been doing the past ten minutes?’ she grumbled.

***

It wasn’t a surprise. Kurt knew Kent’s type. Also, he’d seen her through the frosted glass of the kitchen door. A married woman might have been better. A married woman would have probably treated him better. With more respect.

Perhaps not. That was part of Kent’s type too.

After dinner, Kurt helped Kent clear the dishes. It was always his job at home and besides, Diane’s manicure would’ve been ruined. She moved into the living room with Meyer, and a bottle of white wine.

‘Why is it a secret?’ Kurt asked flatly.

Kent shrugged. ‘I have absolutely no desire to deal with the publicity and scrutiny that comes with dating a senior politician.’

‘You accept the benefits but dislike the costs,’ Kurt said sourly.

Kent snorted. ‘I refuse to be lectured on relationships by someone with your history.’

‘She talks to you as if you’re an employee.’

‘She talks to everyone like that,’ Kent said dryly. ‘It seems to be a consequence of being born into too much money and too little love.’

Kurt rolled his eyes. ‘That’s an excuse for a toddler, not a full-grown woman.’

Kent ran his fingers through his hair. ‘You’re not telling me anything I don’t know.’

‘It’s your life,’ Kurt said. ‘You may fill it with women who treat you badly.’

‘For a man of few words you can be unnecessarily melodramatic.’

***

Diane had met politicians on numerous occasions. A great many of them, including Selina Meyer, had been lawyers before they entered politics. It was something that she had, once or twice, given passing thought to doing herself. Not that it was really practical. Her life had far too many little _complications_ that could be dug up by the press and used to discredit her. Even Kurt would be used against her. His politics. His history. His affair. It was humiliating enough that it had already been brought up in court and weaponised. The idea of it being plastered across the news was nauseating. His politics were even being used against Selina, and she barely knew him.

‘They’re in there a long time,’ Diane said, pouring another glass of wine. ‘What do you think they’re doing?’

‘Bitching about us,’ Selina said.

Diana laughed. ‘I’ve never heard Kurt “bitch” about anyone.’

Selina took a gulp of wine. ‘They all do it. _Especially_ about women.’

‘Kent doesn’t seem the type either,’ Diane said mildly. ‘Have you been dating long?’

‘Five months,’ Selina said. ‘If you can call it dating.’ She took off her shoes. ‘He won’t let me go public about it.’

‘Do you want to go public?’

Selina blinked in surprise. ‘Yeah. Course. I don’t have anything to be fucking ashamed about. He’s fucking hot.’

Diane chuckled. ‘There’s that.’

Selina leaned forward. ‘I have dated a parade of complete fuck-ups, losers, and users. Kent’s not like that. Why the fuck wouldn’t I want people to know I’m finally sleeping with a decent guy?’

‘Does he know that you feel like that?’ Diane asked quietly.

‘No, and if you tell him I’ll have you put in Guantanamo Bay.’ Selina took another drink of her wine. ‘He’s already got a big enough opinion of himself.’

‘It would be difficult if I couldn’t tell people that I’m married to Kurt,’ Diane said. ‘Especially when we’ve finally got everything settled again.’

She knew. Diane saw it in her face just for a fraction of a second. If she hadn’t been a lawyer, if she wasn’t trained and experienced in looking for micro-expressions, then she would’ve never seen it.

‘You seen revoltingly happy,’ Selina said, with no trace of insincerity.

‘Oh no, never say that! That always presages doom,’ Diane said quickly.

Selina reached for the wine bottle. ‘Life presages doom.’

‘You might be right.’

***

The appointment secretary looked at Diane as if she was judging the quality of her shoes and finding them lacking.

‘President Meyer has asked me to show you around,’ she said.

‘I’ve been on a tour of the White House before,’ Diane said.

The secretary sniffed. ‘The _tours_ are for tourists,’ she said. ‘She thought you might be interested in how things actually work.’

Diane grinned. ‘Is that why she asked you to do it and not a tour guide? You’re the woman who knows exactly how the work is done and by whom?’

‘Exactly.’ She extended a hand. ‘Sue Wilson.’

‘Diane Lockhart.’ The other woman’s name was familiar although she wasn’t immediately sure why.

Sue headed towards to the door. ‘It’ll be better than staying here,’ she said. ‘If everything goes well then it’s boring. If something goes wrong, then the rest of the day is people running around and screaming.’

‘I know that feeling,’ Diane said dryly. ‘Although I think the press conference today might be quite exciting if everything goes according to plan.’

Sue opened the door. ‘I’ve never known a day here where everything went according to plan.’

***

Kent was twitchy. Selina had to snap her fingers at him to get his attention twice. It was baffling. She would’ve loved to pull off the kind of stunt that he was about to pull off. It was going to get some ink for sure even if, as Kent said, it was pure puff. It’d be forgotten about tomorrow, but it’d be fun today.

‘Are we sure about this?’ Ben asked heavily. ‘He looks like he’s gonna hurl.’

‘I’ll attempt to control my bodily functions,’ Kent said sourly.

‘Maybe Mike could help?’ Gary suggested.

They looked at him.

‘Only by making Kent look good in comparison,’ Ben huffed.

Selina frowned as Mike poked his head around the door.

‘They’re all in their seats,’ Mike said. ‘Are you ready, Kent?’

‘As I’ll ever be,’ he said.

Selina waved her hand. ‘I need a word with Kent before he goes out there.’

Mike pulled his head and Ben shuffled away. Selina narrowed her eyes at Gary.

‘You too.’

He blinked as if genuinely hurt. ‘Oh. Okay.’

She rolled her eyes at Kent as Gary shuffled away.

‘I swear to God if he doesn’t stop looking at me like a kicked puppy…’

Kent smoothed down his tie again. ‘I don’t think we have much time.’

‘They’re the Press, they can fucking wait another thirty seconds,’ Selina sniffed. ‘And stop messing with your tie. Jesus, you’re like a little kid going to have photograph taken.’ She straightened his lapels. ‘You look fine.’

‘I wish that this wasn’t necessary,’ he said quietly.

‘Yeah, well, it fucking is, and that’s all there is to it.’ She stepped back. ‘You don’t get to critique my performance publicly for another three months. Six if you fuck it up.’

‘You’re trained to perform in front of the press,’ he pointed out. ‘You have decades of experience.’

‘Hey! Less of the decades, asshole,’ she snapped. She sighed. ‘You’ll be fine. Just go out there and look handsome and you’ll be fine.’

‘You think that I’m handsome?’ he asked.

She rolled her eyes. ‘Fuck off with fishing for compliments. I wouldn’t sleep with you if you were bad looking and besides which you’ve got a damn mirror. Go on. Make your grand appearance.’

***

Sue pursed her lips. ‘Are you sure that you want to watch?’

Diane pushed back a lock of her hair. ‘I really think I should.’

‘Not if it goes badly,’ Sue said, but she turned on the television.

Diane folded her arms and bit her lip as Mike yielded the podium.

The press immediately started raising their hands.

‘Good morning. Yesterday footage of me at an abortion protest was made widely available online and via the media,' he said. ‘The suggestion has been made that this in some way reflects upon the President and her Administration. That is incorrect.’

There was some incredulous laughter from the press. Mike indicated to a reporter.

‘Mr Davison, how can _possibly_ be the case? You’re President Meyer’s senior strategist. Everything you do potentially reflects on the president and her administration.’

He shrugged. ‘I’m not Kent Davison. He is.’

Heads turned even as half-formed questions were voiced. From the back of the room, Kent walked down the aisle. He climbed up the steps that had been placed unobtrusively and exchanged places with Kurt. He looked at one reporter who _didn’t_ have her hand up.

‘Ms Carr, perhaps you have something to say about the importance of correctly identifying people in videos before making accusations?’

She took a breath and smiled. ‘Well, I think the first thing that _we all_ to know then is who this gentleman is, don’t you?’

Kurt groaned softly.

***

Ben regarded his mug mournfully and began filling it with coffee. He turned as the door to the coffee nook was pushed open.

‘Room for a little one,’ he said, when he saw it was Sue. ‘Oh, or two. Who’s your friend?’

‘Diane Lockhart,’ she said politely.

‘Ben Cafferty,’ he said.

‘Oh, I know!’

Sue took down a couple of cups from the shelf. ‘Ms Lockhart is married to Mr McVeigh.’

Ben frowned. ‘Mr… Oh, Kent’s doppelganger? Jesus, Kent’s bad enough without being a damn Republican.’ He looked at Diane. ‘Some offence. Like, a teaspoon.’

She smiled. ‘Kurt is a Republican. I’m not.’

He gulped a mouthful of coffee. ‘Spicy.’

‘Sometimes,’ she said sweetly.

Ben grunted. ‘He did okay with the press,’ he admitted.

Diane shrugged elegantly. ‘Kurt’s used to public speaking, in courtrooms and classrooms. Kent’s the one who seems to find it particularly unpleasant.’

Sue raised her eyebrow. ‘In courtrooms?’ She passed Diane her coffee.

‘He’s an expert in ballistics. One of foremost in the country,’ Diane said proudly. ‘He’s a professional ballistics expert quite often. He also teaches.’

Ben was looking thoughtful. ‘When you saw the video of the protest did you know it was him or did you think it might be Kent?’

She raised her eyebrows. ‘It never crossed my mind it might be Kent. I don’t think anyone who knows them well would ever confuse them.’ She raised her eyebrow. ‘Not to mention that the chances that Kent would _ever_ be part of any demonstration let alone an anti-abortion demonstration are vanishingly slim.’

Ben put his hand on the counter. ‘Kurt’s pretty active politically?’

Diana blew out her cheeks. ‘He’s not out canvassing door to door but he’s waved a placard from time to time.’

‘And he’s given evidence in court, trains students, all that shit,’ Ben said almost to himself.

Diane and Sue exchanged looks.

‘What are you thinking, Mr Cafferty?’ Diane asked.

He took a gulp of coffee. ‘I’m thinking there must be plenty of footage of Kurt floating around and yet the one that got misattributed to Kent is the one that’s most potentially devastating.’

Diane opened and closed her mouth. ‘Murphy’s Law?’

He shook his head. ‘I always preferred Occam’s Razor.’

Sue sipped her coffee. ‘It was deliberately leaked.’

Ben nodded.

Diane shook her head. ‘But that doesn’t make sense. The only reason it wasn’t debunked within minutes is that someone here wanted Kurt to come and make this big dramatic entrance.’

‘Yeah,’ Ben said. ‘Someone did.’

***

Selina slumped down onto the couch and peeled off her nylons. She leaned down to rub her feet. Damn pumps. It had to have been a man that invented high heeled shoes. No woman would have thought they were a good idea. She heard voices in the corridor. Shit. She should at least have a couple minutes to herself before she had to get ready for whatever event she was supposed to go that night. A reception? An opening? Who the fuck knew these days?

She twisted around in her seat when the door opened, and then wished that she hadn’t.

‘That looked painful,’ Kent said.

‘Cricked my neck,’ she moaned.

‘You need to incorporate stretching into your daily routine.’ He touched her shoulders in silent query.

Selina dropped her head forward, letting him rub her shoulders and neck. ‘Yeah, yeah, you keep saying that.’

‘And yet, you don’t do it,’ he said dryly.

‘How else would I get you to do this?’

‘You would _ask_ like a normal person,’ he said rather sharply. ‘Communication is an extremely important part of a relationship, Selina.’

She looked at him over her shoulder. ‘What was Ben yelling about in the corridor?’

Kent pursed his lips. ‘He suspects that _someone_ deliberately leaked that video of Kurt to the press with the explicit intention of them mistaking him for me.’

Selina looked away. ‘So what? The other side are other always doing bullshit.’

She heard his sigh. It wasn’t the tired sigh or even the mildly exasperated sigh. It was streaked with irritation and the strain of keeping his temper.

‘Are we really going to play this game? It’s insulting.’

Selina turned around and looked up at him. ‘Jesus, what’s your problem? We got it nailed down within twenty-four hours and the reveal got tons more play than the original stupid video did.’

‘You used me,’ he snapped. ‘You exposed me to ridicule and abuse. For what, Selina? Some passive-aggressive display of temper? You don’t _like_ staffers getting publicity so I can’t imagine that you did it out of anything other than spite, particularly knowing how much I loathe it.’

‘That’s enough!’ she snapped, jumping up. ‘Did you think that maybe I did this for your own good?’

He stared at her. ‘No.’

‘Well, I did.’

Kent threw up his arms. ‘That is utterly delusional.’

She poked his chest. ‘It’s called exposure therapy, smart ass! Now you get to see that publicity isn’t gonna fucking kill you so –’

‘Is this a joke?’ he asked too quietly. ‘Are you _seriously_ suggesting that you did this to me because you’re… what, irritated that I don’t want the public scrutiny of officially dating the President of the United States?’

Selina swallowed. The set of his jaw was making her uneasy. ‘But you are dating her and she would like people to know that and –’

‘Then she should fucking talk to me about it!’

‘I’ve tried!’ she nearly screamed. ‘And don’t act like I outed you or some shit! It’s not like I told the world that we’re fucking and don’t think that didn’t cross my mind!’

‘Am I supposed to be grateful that you didn’t screw me over quite as much as you could?’ he demanded.

‘You should be grateful that I actually want people to know that we’re fucking!’

***

Diane clasped her hands together. Kurt had his eyes tightly shut.

She looked at Ben. ‘I always assumed that the Oval Office would be sound-proofed.’

‘It’s not,’ he said, unnecessarily.

‘No.’ She licked her lips. ‘Do you think that they know we can hear them?’

‘Yeah,’ he said.

Diane tapped her feet together. Selina’s moans seemed to be reaching a crescendo. ‘Well, it sounds like Kent’s forgiven her for leaking the footage.’

Ben took a gulp of his coffee and looked across at the line of people pretending not to listen. ‘I wish he’d forgiven her somewhere else.’

The End


End file.
